


The Clockwork Kingdom

by TheDoctorIsIcecube



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Siblings, Autistic Link, But they don't know that, Child Abuse, Gen, Just a small warning there, Link and Zelda are siblings, Prince Link - Freeform, Robots, Steampunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-05-15 18:45:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5795722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/TheDoctorIsIcecube
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The heir of Hyrule stumbles away from a raided carriage, finding herself swept into a new life.</p><p>And far away her brother will grow up under an advisor determined to conquer all the lands surrounding Hyrule. Eventually, the world will bring them back together, but is it too late to save Hyrule from despair?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Leaving Home

The wind was harsh over the desert, blowing particles of sand into the face of the young girl wandering alone through it. She raised a hand to wipe her eyes; when she took her hand away, there was a figure on the horizon. Tall, assured, seemingly unbothered by the harsh conditions.

She started to run. She didn't know what was going on. She had been fine, she had been with her parents, but now they were gone in a whirlwind.

Everyone was gone, the entire party they had been travelling with. Her shoes were not designed for running in the sand, they filled up with the tiny grains of rock and then slipped off her feet, leaving her barefoot in the scorching heat of the desert.

This figure, she wanted to get closer to them. They'd know what to do. They'd help her. She was important.

She tripped over then, falling onto her front and sliding unceremoniously down a sand dune to land right at the feet of the tall figure.

"Child," the figure said. "What is your name?"

The voice was unfamiliar but even. She found herself trusting this stranger all wrapped up in light cloth. "Zelda."

"You're Hylian," the figure said. "Where is your family? Your guide? Surely you did not come out here alone."

"They disappeared." They hadn't disappeared, terrible things had happened that made her eyes sting with more than the sand.

"Will you come back to my village? I promise that my people will keep you safe." Zelda nodded, and the figure bent down and lifted her up as if she weighed no more than a feather, before starting off at a run across the desert.

She looked back to where she had been. The sand was red.

They ran and ran, and then they stopped and the stranger spoke to someone. Zelda felt herself being passed to someone else, and taken inside a place that wasn't a building, but rather a small living area made of cloth. She was sat down on a soft mat on the ground. "Child, focus a little on me."

Zelda did so, finding herself face to face with a woman whose face was painted with various colours and symbols. Next to the woman, a pot containing something strong-smelling was simmering over a flame. The smell of whatever it was made Zelda feel oddly drowsy.

"What is your name?" She asked.

"Zelda." She said again. This wasn't the same person, though, so she didn't mind much.

"I see from your face that you have been through many hardships today." The woman took out a large spoon and used it to fill a cup with the liquid from the cauldron. "Drink this, Zelda. You may explain everything after you awaken later."

She nodded. She didn't want to think about it. She kept seeing the red sand and her mother with an arrow through her throat.

Zelda took a sip of the liquid and spat it out, wrinkling her nose. The woman frowned at her, and she mumbled an apology and drank the cup as fast as she could, grimacing at the bitter taste. She'd never had anything so horrible before. The drink made her feel strange inside.

"Old magic," the woman said, nodding to the cup. "Herbal magic. You should get to a bed, here, let me help you. You will sleep soon now, I promise."

She put the cup down shakily. She didn't understand this. She hoped maybe her father was okay. She hadn't seen what happened to him.

A warm, sleepy feeling was starting to spread through her, and she was glad that the woman had helped her to a bed. Not a bed like her bed at home, but it was soft and had a pillow and she was so, so tired...

-

When she woke again, the sun was coming through the opening in the gap in the tent.

The woman from before was nowhere to be seen, so Zelda stumbled out of the tent, squinting in the sunlight glaring off the bright sand.

"Zelda!" It was the figure who had brought her here. "Child, rest a little longer, you have been through a lot."

"I don't want to rest," she said stubbornly. "I want to know where I am, please. Who are you? Why don't you live in town where it isn't so sandy?"

The figure laughed. "This is our home, child. We are desert people."

"What's your name? And the name of the woman who gave me that icky drink? Why would you want to live in the desert?"

They laughed again. "My name is Ishna. Do you know what happened to your parents?"

"I think it was the raiders that Father was worried about before we left..." Zelda sat down on the sand, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Did they...do you know what death is, Zelda?" She did. She did and they were dead.

"Someone needs to go back and tell Link what happened...please may I go home? The big green council man was looking after him but we were only supposed to be gone for a few days..."

"You cannot return there." Ishna said. "We know things that the family never could."

"What things?" Zelda stamped her foot, kicking up a small storm of sand as she did so.

"You will learn them. But your younger brother is safe at home, and you are safe here."

"I want to be with Link," she said firmly. "If you won't take me, I'll walk there myself."

"Hush, child, he is safe." Ishna bent down so they were on her level.

"There's nothing here for me," she said, making her point clear. "But my brother is at home."

"You're staying here." Ishna told her. "That means you need new clothes. A family."

"I have a family, I have Link!" Zelda didn't object to the new clothes, though. Her dress was full of sand.

"Link is in Hyrule and you are here." Ishna said softly.

"Where even IS here?" Zelda looked around, peering past the boundaries of the little group of tents. All she could see was sand, endless golden sand in every direction.

"This is a Sheikah village, your new home." Ishna said. Zelda didn't want this to be her new home.

Before she could protest, though, Ishna took her firmly by the hand and led her across to a larger tent. "The person in here will find you something practical to wear, go and introduce yourself, please."

-

Zelda had been four years old when she'd first come to the Sheikah village. Now she didn't remember where she'd been before, but she didn't think she had been loved very much if they'd just let her go away.

It had been more than ten years since the Sheikah had taken her in, and Zelda was so glad that they had. They had been kind enough to teach her their ways and let her be a part of their tribe, and it hadn't taken long for Zelda to realise what a good opportunity it was and to throw herself wholeheartedly into training.

She remembered that she had been sad when she was first here, but the memories of before the desert faded into the sands themselves.

Ishna had adopted her as their own child, and Zelda loved the Sheikah as her parent. Every morning, she ran across the desert to fetch water from a nearby oasis, and before she ate any food she would run around the village with the other Sheikah her age.

They all trained together, and they were all strong and had their own talents. Hers were magic.

Zelda loved her life here, she loved the community and her friends and the way she felt after a long day of good training. There was no better life to be had than this one, with her tribe.

On the dawn of her sixteenth birthday, she was assigned her first mission as a full warrior of the Sheikah.

She had been sitting out in the desert all night, according to tradition, focusing her mind for whatever task might lie ahead. It was up to the village elder to decide what she must do, and it was with a clear voice and utter confidence that Zelda bowed before her elder and asked what she must do to prove herself.

"There remains only one aware member of the royal family of Hyrule," the elder told her. "He is young and knows little of the world. You must take a journey across the Hylian ruled continents to him."

Zelda looked up from her bow, straightening her back and smiling. "I shall do as you ask and I promise to complete your mission to the best of my ability, elder. May I ask how long you wish me to stay with the boy?"

"As long as you see fit. There are others of another tribe within the castle, they will tell you more."

"Thank you, elder. I will not let you down. I will return here, be it in a week or a year or more, I swear it." She bowed once more, and walked out of the tent, finding Ishna waiting expectantly for her.

"Where are you being sent?" They asked. They had been preparing travelling clothes for her.

"Across the Hylian lands. There's a boy left, the prince of the Hylian royal family, and the elder wishes for me to guard him." She smiled up at Ishna. "I swore I would return, though, so you aren't getting rid of me forever."

"It is dangerous for a Sheikah in the countries ruled by the armies of the kingdom of Hyrule."

"I know it is. And I know I will miss you badly, but I must do this. I must prove myself." Zelda stepped closer to her guardian, pulling them into a rare hug. Most Sheikah didn't do this, but Zelda found comfort in the simple gesture. Ishna never minded that she was a little different. They said it was natural that not everyone was the same.

"When do you intend to leave, my child?" Ishna stroked her hair with a gentle hand, aware that this might be the last time for a while that they were able to be so close to Zelda. "This will not be an easy task, as you well know. I will do anything I can to help you prepare. Just ask."

"Do you know anything of the prince?" She asked. He might be resistant to her help.

"I know he was orphaned as a very young child. I know he is two years your junior, and that he is cared for by a man of somewhat dubious character, to put it lightly. I do not know what role the Sheikah play in his life."

"Is he as cruel as the man who cares for him?" She doubted she would be tasked with hurting the boy, but persuasion was a skill she had.

"I am afraid I cannot say. I have told you all I know; it has been a long time since I heard any information on the young prince." Ishna finally released her adopted daughter from the hug, holding her at arms' length to look her over. "You need a good meal before you set out, and I have prepared you travelling clothes and food to take with you."

"Which weapons should I take?" She asked, following Ishna to the cooking pot.

"Nothing obvious. The Hylian guards would arrest you on sight if you were seen to be carrying blades in public. Take knives that can be concealed in your sleeves, but rely mostly on your body and your magic as your primary weapons."

Was she permitted to enter the castle? She would presume so; Sheikah had been the guards of the Hylian royal family for as long as time itself.

Ishna passed her a bowl of stew and a spoon, and Zelda ate hungrily as she thought more about the task ahead. Her internal compass was finely honed and she knew that Hyrule lay to the north of this desert, but it would be a long run indeed. Several days, perhaps.

She knew of the terrors of the kingdoms beyond, also. The desert marked the border of the Hylian kingdom from the rest of the world.

When she was finished eating, Ishna led her inside the tent that they shared. Zelda spotted a small bowl of blue dye on the ground, and she touched her forehead and smiled. No runes or symbols there yet, she had forgotten about that part of her birthday until now.

The final markings of her training were to show she had reached her sixteenth year. It would mark her a Sheikah adult.

Ishna followed the direction of her gaze and smiled. "Sit down, my child, I shall mark you as a warrior. You should be careful with these marks in Hyrule, though, I am not sure how the people there will react."

"Is my mission also to write reports on this new Hyrule?" She asked.

"It may be a good idea, yes. Documented proof of your mission." Ishna dipped a finger into the ink, brushing Zelda's fringe out of her face and starting to draw. It had been her dream ever since she started her training that she should receive these marks.

She sat perfectly still until Ishna was done, and then she ran to the oasis and bent down to see her reflection in the still water. It was exactly how she had imagined it, and the sight of the symbols filled her with pride. They were wonderful. When they set, she would leave on her first task for her tribe.

While she waited, she sat with Ishna and discussed the details of her journey. It would not be easy; she would need all her endurance to get there soon. She needed as much food and water as she could realistically carry all the way to Hyrule.

Zelda managed to strap four water containers to her back, and enough dried food for a few days was rolled up inside a bundle of clothes. The whole lot was wrapped up in a cloth and strapped together. The cloth would double as something to sleep under if she needed it. Her travelling clothes were light, but her bundle was bound with fur in case it became cooler.

Zelda had to say goodbye to her friends before she left, and she told them happily about her mission. They were pleased for her. Some of them had already been on missions, and told her that the prince supposedly ruled his provinces with an iron fist. They'd heard that from the locals.

That made Zelda a little less keen on the idea of this boy, if he showed no mercy to his subjects. A good ruler was fair and just, and listened to the opinions of their people. The Sheikah tribe was ruled by democracy, any person who broke a rule was treated fairly and punished accordingly.

But she was still determined. This was her mission, and if she had to hurt the boy to make him understand what was just, she would.

Zelda left her friends, a woven leather bracelet tied firmly onto her wrist as a goodbye present from them.

She was excited. This was the coming of her life and all its meaning.

Zelda strapped her supplies onto her back, and turned to Ishna for her last goodbye. She was more than ready to leave, but she hugged her guardian for a long minute.  
She would miss everything here, and everyone.

"Thank you for looking after me so well, Ishna." Zelda squeezed her guardian tightly, smiling. "I will make you proud."

"Farewell, my child." They said, with a final gentle adjustment of one of her braids. "You will be wonderful."

Zelda smiled brightly, and then she turned and walked out of the tent, walked up to the boundary of the village. She looked back; saw Ishna watching her, saw the rest of the village getting on with their day, and then she turned to the north and set off at a run.


	2. Travelling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda travels the empire of Hyrule to reach her destination.

Zelda had trained excessively in long distance running, but nothing had prepared her for this. She ran for half a day before she had to take her first rest.

The desert was still surrounding her. She was scared of what was to come.

She drank a little water, ate a little food, adjusted her head covering to better hide her face from the sun.

It was hot, but she predicted that the desert may nearly be over. She had seen a settlement earlier.

An hour or so later, the sand abruptly gave way to fields. The change was shocking, and Zelda had to bend down and touch the grass to see that it was real.

She barely remembered grass. She'd seen it once before, at least that she remembered. She'd been in a cart. The cart could have been anywhere, she couldn't remember. It was a long time ago.

 

This was Din, the third colony of Hyrule. There were two more to pass through before the central colony, Hyrule, each one more wealthy than the last. Why Hyrule had decided to set itself up in rings, she didn't know. It seemed illogical.

Zelda ran through the first colony without seeing too many people. It was largely yellow-green fields and strange animals. There hadn't been many animals in the desert. But it was slightly cooler here, and there were more trees than she had seen in her memory.

After a while, she came to a fence. The fence, she knew, was the barrier between this colony and the next, but she scaled it with little problem and kept running on.

This was Nayru. This state was full of water, and this was where things started to get harder to traverse. Zelda found herself having to make detours around lakes, and even having to wade through one, to her irritation. The water was far colder than in the desert.

She started to see a few people. Some fish people who introduced themselves as the Zora and warned her that the patrol of robots would come through soon. Zelda had no idea what they meant by that, but she thanked them for their advice and kept an eye out for any patrols. It was almost evening now, and soon she would have to find a place to rest.

She could travel through the shadows, as befitted a Sheikah, but she did not know these lands. She was tired, anyway; so much running had exhausted her. Zelda made her way to a small meadow, quickly climbing the nearest tree to rest in.

She started writing her report. She wrote on the fear of the people, the undefended fence of Nayru. Zelda folded the paper up and tucked it away, looking up at the sky above her. The night was cold, but not as cold as in the desert, and the stars were almost the same. They looked a little different. Brighter and so far away. In the desert they were a little more numerous.

Zelda missed her home already, but it wasn't so bad out here. It was interesting.

She missed Ishna. She missed eating in communion with her friends.

Zelda shut her eyes, pulling her fur blanket tight around her and resting her head on her pack of clothes. Tomorrow, she would reach Hyrule.

She may even meet the prince. This prince that had a false leadership. Or was it false? Did he have decisions, or did he let himself be walked over by someone bigger than him?

She was intrigued about him, if she was honest with herself. This whole mission held a deep fascination for her, though Zelda could not pinpoint the cause of it all.  
She would protect him. If necessary, she would do anything. The goal was to keep him alive. But if he had to be killed, she was sure something could be arranged.

Zelda let herself slip into sleep with thoughts of the prince still dancing through her mind. She was excited if apprehensive, but this was her duty and she would do what she had to do to the best of her ability.


	3. The Prince of Hyrule

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda travels to her destination and meets her target.

Zelda was up and running again by the sunrise, noticing how quiet and hidden away everyone in Nayru seemed to be. Did no one here have to get up early?

The sunrise was early here, but she was still yet to see a single person. The whole place was entirely deserted. Weren't populated places meant to have more people?

She saw the odd town, but most of them looked abandoned or at least half-empty. Zelda shrugged it off, though, and kept going until she reached the fence at the edge of Farore.

She saw after a moment that this fence was guarded by curious figures. Small slightly elevated amber coloured figures.

Zelda slowed a little way before she reached them, coming to a careful stop before the little creatures could see her.

They started beeping the moment she got anywhere near them. It wasn't a very mammalian sort of beeping, and Zelda wondered if the creatures were mechanical at all. She stepped out into the open, just to test their reactions.  
They started beeping frantically, and there was a noise a little like ticking and whirring.

"Are you going to hurt me?" The creatures didn't appear to be armed in any way.

There was more beeping and whirring and then one of them produced a knife from itself.

Well. Apparently they were armed. Zelda took a running leap and jumped on one of the creatures, landing on the fence.

It was sharp and very loud. Her clothes were protective, but not that protective. She winced at the sudden pain in her leg, scrambling up the rest of the fence as fast as she could and dropping to the other, unguarded side.

The guards beeped angrily, but none of them came after her. Good. She might have had to rip them to pieces if they had.

She jogged away to a safe point and bent to examine her leg. The cut was shallow, nothing serious, so Zelda readjusted the bandaging on her leg to cover it and set off at a run again. Farore was much greener than the other colonies, and if she had thought there were lots of trees in Din, there were almost none compared to this place.  
She knew she was approaching Hyrule. She had seen settlements and busy markets. People with lives.

Farore was the smallest and the wealthiest of the colonies, and it took Zelda barely an hour before she reached the outer border of Hyrule. Here, she had to go through a gate. There was no use hiding once she reached here, she'd be reporting in once she was at the castle.

She was predictably stopped at the gate, as she had expected. No one in Hyrule trusted Sheikah, she had been warned of that.

"I am here on business with the prince." She may as well be up front with them. "As is the tradition of the royal family."

"Hmm." The guard inspected her closely, then shrugged his shoulders. "Go on, then. Watch your step, people aren't fond of your kind."

She nodded. "Thank you kindly, sir."

The guard just gave her a nod in return and waved her on, so Zelda set off at a jog into Hyrule.

It was warmer than Farore here. Everything was decked with bright lights or something beautiful.

Zelda couldn't help but stare as she walked through the city, marvelling at the luxury and the people and everything that there was to see. This was why they conquered other places. To bring this back to them. These riches.

Hyrule Castle stood tall and proud in the centre of the land, the largest building Zelda had ever seen. It was built of grey stone and even from this distance, Zelda could see that it was well-guarded.

It was huge and beautiful. She hoped they'd see sense. It was part of the Hylian law that every member of the royal family was permitted a Sheikah guard. Zelda ran up to the castle gates, finding them guarded not by men, but by robots. They looked a little different to the ones she had seen before, but they were probably just as viscious.

"Excuse me." She told them. "I am from the desert. I have come to serve his Highness the Prince of Hyrule."

One of the robots swivelled to face her and whirred, bleeping gently at her. It stopped after a moment, and turned to go into the castle. The other robot moved to block her path, so Zelda stood curiously until the robot came back out with a person in tow.

The man's face was striking. He was handsome in a strange way. He looked a lot like the nomads of the deserts, the Gerudo.

Zelda bowed her head to him, because she felt like this man was important. "Hello," she said. "May I inquire who you are?"

"I would request the same of you." He said.

She nodded. "I am Zelda, a warrior of the Sheikah. I have been assigned to guard the prince of Hyrule."

"I see." The man narrowed his eyes at her, and Zelda felt oddly uncomfortable under his close scrutiny. "I am his Highness' chief advisor." He said. "I understand the custom in place between his family and your tribe."

"Thank you, sir. Please, may I come in?" Zelda took a tentative step forwards, and the man let her pass.

He lead her all the way up to the castle and through the huge entrance doors. "I hope you understand that I take a personal stance on the prince's upbringing," he said, "after all, I have been responsible for his well-being for many a year."

"Yes, sir." Zelda understood very well, and she didn't intend to upset anyone at the castle. "Am I correct in thinking that there is another Sheikah here?"

"Ah yes, her name is Impa, I believe," he said after a moment of thought. "She maintains the prince's personal robot."

Personal robot. Hmm. "May I go and speak with her?" Zelda asked. "Where can I find her?"

"Wait, Zelda." He stopped in the middle of the stone halls in front of a sturdy oak door.

"What is it?" Zelda frowned, turning back to face him.

"Your name, is it a traditional Sheikah name?" He asked. "It's a rather common Hylian name, that is why I ask."

"I'm not sure, but I know that I am a Sheikah." Zelda had a very strong feeling that it was not a good idea to tell this man that she was adopted.

He nodded, not looking satisfied. "This is the entrance to the prince's quarters. I believe he is currently studying, though he should be in a meeting."

"Yes, sir. May I ask where to find Impa, for later?" Zelda was desperate to meet this new Sheikah.

"She will be in the prince's quarters this evening to check on him, I will inform her of your arrival."

"Thank you, sir." Zelda bowed her head again and then stepped into the prince's quarters, suddenly apprehensive of what she would find. She hoped her time with him would not involve killing him. It was possible he was the last person capable of holding the Triforce of Wisdom.

Zelda didn't see the prince immediately when she walked into his room. The curtains were half-drawn, and piles of books were stacked to the ceiling in every corner. The bed was messy and unmade, and there was a desk in the corner with a large chair facing the wall.

"Your Highness?" She asked tentatively. Was he well? Was she going to be faced with a stuck up, entitled child?

She heard a small yelp of surprise, and then someone jumped down from the desk chair and stared at her. The Prince of Hyrule was short, with messy blond hair and a slightly unattractive, though not ugly set of clothes that were much too extravagant for her liking. His skin was pale and his blue eyes seemed oddly large and curious.  
She refused to believe that someone so small was a full fourteen years of age. There were eleven year olds in her village bigger than that.

"You aren't Impa," the boy said. "It's two and a half hours until Impa comes. You're like Impa, though." He walked closer, studying Zelda. "And you miss your family a lot."

His speech was fast. And he was right. "I am Zelda," she said, bowing to him.

"Zelda." He said her name slowly, carefully, as if he was trying out the sound of it. "My name is Link."

"I am a member of a desert based Sheikah tribe," she told him. "I am here to be your guard, as is traditional."

"You're like Impa, but you're different." The prince took a step back, acting as if he hadn't even heard her. "You aren't quite like her."

"I imagine I am a little younger," she said, smiling slightly at him, hoping he liked her. "And there is no Impa in my tribe."

"You weren't born Sheikah," Link said suddenly, his eyes suddenly full of understanding. "I see now."

She shook her head and hoped he wouldn't tell his advisor. "I am a Sheikah."

"You're lying to me," Link said with absolute confidence. "You were born here in Hyrule, but I can't see any more than that. I won't tell Ganondorf, don't worry."

There was a little of a bitter tone when he spoke. She almost frowned. Did he not like the advisor? "How do you know this?" Zelda had never met anyone with predictive powers that extensive and immediate. Ishna had always said that she had a gift of foresight, but it barely stretched beyond knowing whether or not there would be a sandstorm the next day.

The boy shrugged. "I just know it." He looked a little put out by her comment. "Will you let me go back to my books?"

"I apologise," Zelda said. "Before I go, I want to ask that you please tell no one else what you know about me. I am a Sheikah in my upbringing and in my mind, and to everyone else I was born that way, too. And can you please tell me where I might find Impa?"

He shrugged again. "I don't tell people what I know, they don't care." He seemed a little moody. "I don't know where Impa is, but she likes knives."

Zelda resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Okay. Do you have a shooting range with targets, perhaps?" Link thought for a moment, and then pointed to his left. Zelda was going to ask him to be more specific, but he turned and went back to his chair, making it clear that the conversation was over.

What an entitled boy. She couldn't believe how rude he was. He hadn't even thanked her for her protection.  
And his powers of prediction were unsettling. She didn't like knowing that he could probably predict her entire future if he tried. She walked down the corridors until she found a servant cleaning a torch bracket on the wall, and gained some much clearer directions to the shooting range.

The castle was vast and beautiful. Everywhere she went things were brightly lit and you could see everything you passed.

She stopped to admire decorations so much that it took her almost fifteen minutes to reach the shooting range, where she could hear both the whistle-thud of arrows and the metallic sound of knives being thrown at targets.

She opened the door to the room and gaped. It was vast. Huge. It was wonderful and it also seemed well equipped.  
There were targets scattered everywhere on the walls, and a few at the end of the room painted roughly onto bales of hay. A group of men were practising with bows and arrows, but Zelda spotted Impa immediately.

She was tall and slender and she looked a lot like Ishna, and Zelda found herself missing her adopted guardian intensely.

Impa was considerably younger than Ishna, although her hair was such a pale blonde it almost appeared white. Zelda watched her for a minute, and then the other Sheikah paused in her knife throwing and turned around as if she had sensed Zelda's presence.

She bowed her head. The woman had the markings of a very skilled warrior.

Impa strode over, nodding her head once to Zelda. A simple gesture from one warrior to another. "Who are you, girl? I have heard nothing about another Sheikah coming to the castle, and you have the markings of a desert warrior. Has anything happened out there?"

She shook her head. "I am assigned as the guard to Prince Link." She told the woman.

"You look to be sixteen, is this your first mission as a warrior?" Zelda nodded. Impa smiled, and then bent closer and lowered her voice. "How long have you been with the tribe? You look almost exactly like one of us, you must have been young when they took you in."

"It has been twelve years." She murmured. "I have been told you know more about the situation here."

"I do indeed. Wait here a moment." Impa jogged over to the targets, pulling her throwing knives out of them and stowing them in a rack at the side of the room. "Now, come with me." She placed a hand on Zelda's back and led her out of the room.

"I trust you met the Lord Dragmire?" She asked quietly.

"The prince's advisor? Yes. He let me in and showed me to Link's room." Zelda wondered why Impa was still being so quiet, there was nobody around.

"He is in charge of everything here," she said, "and he does not allow the prince a single word in the matter."

"Ah," Zelda said, frowning. So he was the reason why the provinces were ruled with an iron fist. "That seems unfair, is there anything that I can do about it?"

"I requested that Link be assigned a protector," she said, "in the hope that you could give him courage."

"He seems somewhat stuck up and stubborn, completely unwilling to listen to me," Zelda said flatly. "Does he pay attention to anyone other than himself and his own thoughts?"

Impa laughed. "He's listening to you, at least as far as I can tell. He's always been like that."

"I see." At least it wasn't just her that he was rude to, then. "How am I supposed to make him brave?"

"He is scared of the Lord Dragmire." Impa said with a slight sigh.

"The Lord Dragmire is somewhat imposing." That was an understatement, but Zelda didn't want to seem too scared in front of Impa. "You know the prince better than I do, what would calm his nerves?"

"He enjoys reading." She suggested. "He likes talking a lot but is rarely in the mood for that."

"I see." Zelda nodded thoughtfully. "What do you need me to do for him?"

"Protection is high on my list of things he needs," she said. "I do not trust Lord Dragmire with his safety once he can become king."

"Two years, yes?" Sixteen was the age of an adult in Sheikah law, and she didn't see why it would be any different in Hyrule.

"Four." She said. "But too close and Lord Dragmire may be a suspect in the death of someone close to holding more power than he."

"I see." Zelda did not especially like the young prince, but she didn't want to see him dead. "I will do my best to protect him."

"Thank you." Impa nodded to her, and Zelda realised they were back by the area of the prince's rooms.

"Is he going to be angry with me again for interrupting his reading?" Zelda folded her arms.

Impa paused and then nodded. "He will be. I will show you to where you will sleep."

"Thank you." Zelda felt sore and achy all over from the running she had been doing lately; it was probably the reason that she felt so irritable today.

"I would think that you could come and speak to Link when I check on him later."

"I shall." Zelda followed Impa down corridor after corridor, into a darker part of the castle. Servant's quarters, clearly.

"Your room will connect to Link's. It's a form of magic woven into the castle," Impa told her.

"I see..." Doors that linked parts of the castle separated by so much space and time. This place was unnerving. Maybe the magic here was what gave Link his precognition, though that made no sense in the context of herself, who had been raised around magic from a young age and barely saw anything. 

Impa walked her down to the end of a corridor and pushed open a door, sweeping her arm wide to encompass the room. It was small, with a bed and a chest of drawers and a window. "Servants do not have much here, but YOU have free access to the second largest library in the castle."

Zelda glanced to the door at the other end of the room. "Link's room, I assume. Won't he be cross if I take his books?"

"If you ask him, no." Impa laughed softly. "You wouldn't appreciate this in the same way as I, but he is a child and he does have a heart."

"Alright, if you say so." Zelda sat cross-legged on her new bed, looking around. "Anything else I should know about this place?"

She shook her head, and then paused on the way out of the room. "Don't say anything in front of the robots."

Zelda couldn't think of a single reason not to talk in front of lumps of metal, but Impa sounded serious enough that she wasn't going to question it. Maybe they could tell other people things. They didn't seem to be able to communicate. One had fetched Lord Dragmire for her when she arrived, so they must be able to communicate. Zelda closed her eyes, trying to think her way through her situation.

She hoped Link wasn't a little snitch. He might just be.  
The way he had sounded when he talked about his advisor, though...that bitter voice did not belong to a person who would tell her secrets to Lord Dragmire.

Maybe she should try to be nice to Link. It would make her stay here better, however long it may be.

Zelda didn't know how long she sat and meditated, but the was startled out of her trance by a knock at her door and then Impa coming into the room. "I will be going to Link now," she said. "I would recommend you come with me. Try and persuade him to eat."

"I'll do my best." Zelda crossed her room and pushed open the door that led to Link's, feeling the tingle of magic as she stepped from one room to the next.

The moment she stepped into the room, Link jumped a good length out of his seat. "Hello, Prince." Zelda bowed to him, and he stayed exactly where he was, watching her warily.

"You came through the door that isn't there." He said shortly.

"Yes. Impa tells me I have direct access to your room whenever you need me." Zelda managed a smile at him. "Are you hungry?" Teenage boys were always hungry.

He shook his head. "Impa, Festo is over there."

"Who?" Zelda turned her head, looking for another person in the room, but she saw no one.

"Festo. He's the robot who looks after me." Link tutted like she was supposed to know that.

"I- I see..." Zelda shook her head slightly. "Anyway, I asked if you were hungry?"

"I said I wasn't." He said. He looked back towards his book.

"You should eat something," she said quietly. "You really should. You're small for your age, has anyone told you that? A little food would help." He huffed, so she tried again. "When did you last eat a full meal?"

Link thought for a moment. "A week ago. I have eaten since then, small bits of food. Does it matter? You cannot tell me what to do."

"I'm here to protect you." She didn't know why she felt so forcefully about Link eating. But it was important.

Link made a small noise that sounded like the verbal equivalent of a shrug. "I don't want to eat, Zelda, and you can't make me."

She was surprised he'd remembered her name, even, but she didn't say that. "A Sheikah child of your age, Link, would eat three meals a day and be happy about it. "They would train their mind and their body, and they would learn not to argue with their elders. You may be a prince, but I am your protector and your elder and I would like you to eat something, please."

Link just sniffed. "No." Zelda was fairly sure that if he wasn't trying to look mature he would have stuck his tongue out.

"You are going to eat, Link, because you need to." She looked to Impa, who was tinkering with the robot and watching her with amusement from the corner. "Impa, how would I go about getting Link some food?"

"After an incident two years ago, Link must eat in the dining hall on the main corridor of the ground floor." Impa said.

"Link, come with me." Zelda walked over to him, reaching out to take his arm.

Link immediately jumped away, glaring at her.

"Come with me," she said again. "I am trying to help you, understand that."

"I don't want to go to the dining hall." He said firmly.

"Will you eat in your room, prince?" Zelda was not going to back down from this fight.

"I'm not allowed." He snapped.

"For the goddesses' sake, Link, eat some food." This child was absolutely insufferable. But, Zelda was noticing, he was arguing. He wasn't backing away in fear, he had courage in him.

"I am not going anywhere I do not want to." He said.

"And yet you let yourself be bullied into staying out of your advisor's way and letting him run the country?" Zelda asked quietly, raising an eyebrow at the young prince.

Impa hissed, but didn't say anything. "I don't want to be near him, and I'm not."

"Do you know what he's doing to your people?" Zelda took a step closer, she knew why half of the villages in Nayru were empty, she knew it all. "They're being hurt, killed, taken to work in factories to produce more robots. Not like yours, but like the ones that guard the border. Weaponised robots, designed as part of an army, Link."

Link shook his head. "Ganon is scary but he's not like that. He just wants money."

"Link, use your powers. Like you did on me, earlier. Tell me what you see about those robots. About your advisor."

"I don't have powers." He scoffed. "I know things sometimes."

"You know I am not lying to you." Zelda looked him in the eyes, and Link looked away from her. "You need to help your people." Link just shook his head and looked away. She sighed. "You will eat something." He shook his head again, and Zelda had had enough. "Listen to me. Listen to me, or the kingdom that will be yours one day will drown in the blood of it's own people, the world will cry out as it falls to war, and you, young prince, you will stubbornly starve yourself in the ruins of a fallen city."

Link just stopped looking at her entirely and went back to his book. He was shaking.

Impa looked up from working on Festo and walked over to Zelda, pushing her back through the door into her room. "Do tell me, girl, what in the name of the golden goddesses themselves was THAT?"

"You said to give him courage." She said. "I was trying to get him to argue with me so he could see that he could do so with others."

"He is crying."

"I am sorry for making him cry, but I was getting through to him. I was winning."

"He's not going to talk to you for a day at least." She said. "You lose."

"But I WILL win," Zelda said determinedly. "One day. And that day will be soon."

"Look, I'm not sure what you do with children like Link in the desert, but he's sensitive."

"What would you suggest I do? He isn't going to stand up to Lord Dragmire if we wrap him in blankets and do everything he asks."

Impa sighed. "He's not going to stand up to Lord Dragmire if another person is terrorising him."

"Tell me what to do, then, Impa. I am open to suggestion." Zelda tried to move to sit down, but Impa grabbed her arm and pulled her back, clearly still angry.

"That boy does not leave his room unless he has to because he does not feel safe outside of it." She said. "You're trying to make him feel unsafe inside it."

"You aren't telling me what to do because you don't KNOW what to do, do you?" Zelda glared at her fellow Sheikah. "You would do something if you knew how."

"Help him be more confident." She said. "Get him to the meetings he's meant to be in if you can."

"I will do all I can." Zelda took a step back, forcing herself to swallow her pride for now.

"You should go to him now." She said. "And be nice, for all our sakes."

"Yes, my lady." Zelda bowed her head, although she longed to object. She sighed. She hoped she could get Link to eat something. "What foods does he like?"

Impa laughed, shaking her head. "Bread. Water. Carrots, but not overcooked and not raw. Plain bean stew, on a good day, which this is not."

"Does he eat flatbread?" She still had some in her pack and he could eat that without anyone knowing.

"He does." Zelda went over to her pack and brought out her food, sorting through what was left. She had a few dried dates, too, and some strips of salted dry meat that the Gerudo had traded for potions the last time they had come. "He doesn't eat meat," she said. "I doubt he'd like dates but you could try."

"Alright. Thank you, my lady. I apologise for my earlier behaviour, it was disrespectful and thoughtless. I have had a long journey, I need rest and am not thinking as clearly as usual." 

Impa smiled at the apology, nodding her acceptance and putting a hand on Zelda's shoulder for a moment. "He'll like you with time." She smiled. "He doesn't have any company."

"I hope I can get through to him soon," Zelda said, pushing through the door to get back to the prince. He was still shaking at his desk, and Zelda cleared her throat to alert him to her presence.

He didn't move from where he was sitting. He kept his head down. It was very clear to her now that he was crying.

"I am sorry for what I said earlier," she said gently. "I brought you a little bit of food. Lord Dragmire will never know, I promise."

His head perked up a little, but he didn't look up properly. She came closer slowly, knowing that he could spook. "I brought bread." She placed the small flat loaf onto the table next to him. "And some dried dates, but Impa wasn't sure if you would like those."

"Th..." He trailed off, looking at her with a surprisingly sad look on his face.

"Just tell me if there's anything else I can do." Zelda felt a strong urge to just hold Link in her arms and tell him that everything was going to be okay.

She felt sorry for him. He clearly wasn't well. It might just be that he was a bit spoilt, but that didn't mean he wasn't vulnerable.

She sat and watched as he ate the flatbread, and then turned to her. He looked a little brighter now, Zelda was pleased to see. "I have some dried dates too, if you would like them."

"What are dried dates?"

"Dates are fruits." She said. "And we dry them in the sun to help them last longer." She showed him the handful of small brown objects, and he wrinkled his nose.

"They look like horse dung," he said, but he took one anyway, nibbling it and chewing slowly. "They...they taste quite good, though."

Zelda smiled at him to encourage him to eat more. It was far from a full meal, but she'd work on that tomorrow.

Link finished half of the dates, then pushed her hand away and folded his arms in his lap. "May I have the rest another day? I feel as if they would make a good snack."

She nodded. She'd put them back in her pack, they would keep. "What are you going to do now, Link? Sleep? Or stay up? I am willing to talk with you if you want."

"Can I ask you something?" He was still drying his eyes.

"Of course you may." Zelda stowed the dates in her pocket for the time being.

"I want to go to the meeting on the laws tomorrow." He said quietly. "They're talking about something I want to make an order on."

"Go. Definitely go. I shall come with you if you want me to." Zelda smiled. "What is the order you wish to make?"

"Ganon wants to pass a law that means children owe their parent's debts to the state." Link said quietly. "That's not fair."

"Speak out against it," she said immediately. "That is unfair and unjust. It is not the job of young children to bear the burden of their parents' mistakes, but to learn from them instead."

"I should say that." He smiled and immediately wrote what she had said down in impeccable cursive.

"Glad I could be of service." Zelda sat down on the edge of his desk, looking around. "May I borrow one of your books?"

He nodded. "If you discuss it with me afterwards. I love books."

"I can tell," Zelda said dryly, glancing around at the stacks. "You choose one for me, I am unfamiliar with Hylian literature."

"Oh, Hylian literature is boring." Link laughed. "I like Gerudo literature."

"Have you ever met a Gerudo? They come to my village and trade with us sometimes." Zelda smiled at the memory, especially at the thought of the Gerudo girls who she had practically grown up with, like friends she only saw once every two moons.

"Ganon is a Gerudo." Link sniffed. "He doesn't appreciate fiction."

"Lord Dragmire?" Zelda frowned. If Link was telling the truth, then his advisor was really rather rare amongst his people. "The female Gerudo are much nicer."

Link just smiled again. "He only likes non fiction."

"What do you prefer to read?" Link was searching through a stack of books, clearly on the hunt for something specific.

"Historical fiction." He smiled as he pulled a book from a huge stack. "Here, it has Sheikah."

"Thank you." It was a hefty book, a good few days' reading. "What role do the Sheikah play in the story?"

"It's a Gerudo tale from the past civil wars." Link said. "When they sided with the Sheikah."

"I see. It sounds good, I will be sure to read it." Zelda smiled again; perhaps Link wasn't so bad. "Is there anything else you would like me to do for you today?"

He shook his head. "I'll wake you up if I need you, if that's okay."

"That is fine." Zelda bowed her head quickly to Link, and stepped towards the door. "I shall bid you goodnight, then?"

"Goodnight." He said. "There's a small robot under your bed now, don't check on it, just don't say anything you don't want it to hear around it."

"What?" Zelda stopped in the doorway. "Did Lord Dragmire put it there? Is it going to try and hurt me?"

He shook his head. "Just don't say anything you don't want heard by anyone while in your room."

"Alright... Goodnight, prince Link." Zelda stepped cautiously back into her own room, becoming utterly quiet and listening out for the tiny mechanical whirr of a robot. She heard nothing, but she trusted Link's judgement, so she didn't check under the bed.

Zelda instead climbed into it, the softness very different to her mat at home. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, though. The mats were always firm and soft. This was soft and gave under her weight a little. It reminded her of something, but she didn't know what.

She was so ready for sleep that it barely took her five minutes to slip into dreams, despite the robot under her bed and the sheer strangeness of the situation.


	4. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link attends the meeting, but not without consequence.

Zelda woke up to knocking on her door, and she blinked the sleep from her eyes and looked around. It was a quiet knocking, irregular and nervous, but clearly there and trying to make itself heard. Link.

She jumped out of the soft bed. Her body hurt, but that was irrelevant.

Opening the door, she found a somewhat dishevelled Link looking scared and worried. "I don't know how I'm going to pass this order, Zelda."

"It's okay." She went into his room to see the robot from earlier messing around with Link's sheets.

"It isn't okay, I'm nervous, I can't speak properly when I'm nervous. I can't even dress myself properly when I'm nervous." He looked ruefully at his half-laced tunic and scruffy hair.

"Come here." She felt like a mother to the poor boy. Didn't he have a servant to help dress him?

She finished lacing up his tunic, trying not to touch Link too much. Every time she did, he would flinch a little bit away from her.

"There." She said, taking a step back. "Your tunic looks a lot better now. Do you need to wear anything ceremonial?"

"No. I should eat breakfast, though... Will you come down to the hall with me?" He didn't seem terribly happy about the prospect of going down there at all.

She nodded. She was hungry too, and she was sure she'd at least be allowed to eat something.

Link showed her to the hall, and several tired-looking servants leapt up from the table and bowed when he entered. He waved them all back down, taking his own seat and patting a space next to him for Zelda.

Zelda smiled at him and sat down. She was right next to the head of the table and she could feel eyes on her.

Link ignored the eyes focused in her direction and helped himself to bread and water, while Zelda chose instead a bun with small fruits baked into it. She had never seen anything of the sort before in her life, but it was delicious.

Lord Dragmire spent a little while eating in the hall, but he mostly spent the time complaining to Link about how he never turned up to meetings. Zelda could see how the young prince shrunk away from his advisor, holding his food close to his face and mumbling answers to any questions. The meeting was going to be hard later.  
She would have to get Link to get his order out correctly and quickly, before he got too scared of the advisor.

"May I teach you something?" Zelda asked once Lord Dragmire had left. "It is a technique that we Sheikah use to calm ourselves quickly."

Link's gaze shot up and he nodded. "Being calm is difficult."

"Clench your fists, not too tightly. Good. Now breathe in, and clench them harder, as hard as you can." She smiled as Link did as he was told. "And now breathe out, and relax your hands. Do you feel any better?"

He nodded. "It works, that's great." He smiled at her and bit into another piece of bread.

"Good." Zelda finished her second fruit bun and poured herself a glass of water. "When is this meeting?"

"It's in a few hours." He said. "I never go to them."

"Well, you're going today," Zelda said. "Good luck, Link. You can do this."

He nodded, but he still looked very nervous. "May I be alone to prepare?" He asked. "I know Impa likes to train in the mornings, I don't know if you want to join her..."

She was meant to be protecting him, and a time like this could be crucial to his safety and his well-being, but she nodded and asked where she could find Impa.

Once she got a decent response, and confirmed it with one of the other servants, Zelda made her way out to the fields behind the castle. Impa would be interested to know that Link was attending a meeting, she thought, and perhaps she would have some advice. She also did want to train. Her job was partly on Link's protection and she couldn't protect him if she wasn't on top form.

It took her a few moments to find Impa, crouched high up in a tree as she was. As Zelda approached, she jumped down, breaking her fall with a roll, and ran to meet her halfway. "Did Link tell you where to find me?"

She nodded. "He's planning to attend a meeting today and he wanted to prepare."

"He's...planning to attend a meeting? Goddesses, what did you do to get him to agree to that?" Impa laughed. "Perhaps I was a little harsh on you yesterday, you are good."

"What can I do to help him? He spoke to Lord Dragmire this morning and I've never seen him so timid."

"Run with me," Impa said, setting off at a fast pace. Zelda caught up, settling into the rhythm of it. "You can help him to keep calm if you can. It would help if you could train him to tune out Lord Dragmire, if I'm honest. Improve his focus so that he isn't always glancing back to that man."

"I wish Link had no reason to be scared." She sighed. The problem was that Lord Dragmire WAS scary.

"How good are you at illusion magic, Zelda?" Impa smiled suddenly, as if an idea had just come into her head. "Could you perform a spell to only affect the sight of one person?"

She thought a moment. That was a great idea. But it depended... "How much magic does Link have, innately?"

"A little, I believe." Impa stopped running, sitting on the ground instead and crossing her legs. "You should be able to tap into it if you need to."

"No, he needs it to maintain the spell." She said. "I can do it, but he needs to keep it up."

"If he doesn't have the magic to completely erase Lord Dragmire from his vision, you could..." Impa smirked. "You could get him to add some sort of comical feature to his face."

She laughed. "We'll see." She doubted that Link was without magic, he was a member of the royal family, after all.

"Indeed we will." Impa closed her eyes, settling down to calm her mind. Zelda did the same, longing for the desert sun to warm her face and back.

She missed her people. She missed the simplicity of training all day and every day. She missed the days when she was still learning how to write Hylian. Ishna's face swam into her mind, and Zelda smiled. Her guardian would be proud of her, she was sure of that. "Do you ever get to see your tribe?" She asked Impa. She was worried that she may be here a long time.

"Occasionally. Not very often." Impa sighed. "I came here almost eight years ago now, and since then I've seen my tribe no more than five times."

Zelda sighed. She lived so much further away from her people, too.

"Don't fret, Zelda. You will see your people again." Impa was quiet, then, and Zelda let herself be quiet, too. She needed to focus her mind before visiting Link again. He was a bit of a task, that child. But that was why she was here.

Zelda woke herself from her trance at the time she thought Link would need her, and then ran back to Link's room. He was standing in the middle of the floor, holding a piece of paper up to his face and quietly mouthing the words on it over and over again.

"I have a suggestion for you, Prince Link." She said.  
He looked up, stuffing the paper into his pocket and running over.

"I've memorised my speech. I know what I have to do. I'm still so scared, though..."

"I can do magic on you so you can't see Lord Dragmire," she told him, and his eyes lit up.

"You have to maintain the spell yourself," she said, and his smile faltered. "Don't worry. It only takes the barest spark of magic to keep the spell going."

"I'm not magical at all," he said quietly. "I just don't have any."

"I'm sure you do." She stepped closer, cautiously extending a hand. "May I touch you? It need only be for a moment."

He shook his head. "I can do it without."

"If you're sure," Zelda said, and Link faltered. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath, then held his hand out to her, face screwed up like he was expecting her to slap him. "Thank you." She readied her magic and just touched his palm very gently.

Link snatched his hand away the moment she removed her finger, scratching at the spot she had touched. "I feel different," he said. "What did you do?"

"I just activated a little of your innate magic," she told him, "it might be a little difficult to control for a short while."

"Okay... How do I use it to maintain the spell that you're going to cast? We have twenty minutes before the meeting."

"You don't have to." She smiled encouragingly. "Your magic will do it for you."

Link gave a small nod, quick and sharp. "I don't know if I want him to disappear. That makes me nervous, he could be anywhere and I wouldn't see. Can- can you make him smaller instead, maybe?" She nodded. That would, in fact, be a lot easier for Link's magic to handle. "Thank you very much. Will you listen to what I'm going to say? To make sure that it sounds mature enough?" He started to read what was on the paper, voice shaking only a few times. It was well-written, and Link seemed just about confident enough to pull it off.

"That's great," she said, and she meant it. Link was awkward, but he definitely had a way with the written word.

"Thank you. We should go now." Link was finding it hard to keep his anxiety out of his voice when he wasn't speaking his lines from memory, sentences coming out too short and too fast. Zelda followed him down corridors, acutely aware of the way his breathing was speeding up to a quite alarming rate.

"Link, it's okay," she said softly. "I'll announce you to the people in the room, then you come and find your seat, okay?"

"Okay. I'll try and calm myself like you taught me." Link stopped outside a large, polished wooden door, from the other side of which Zelda could hear voices, mostly male, talking and laughing.

She pushed the doors open. She may be a person of the shadows, but she could flaunt her power if she wished. The room quieted; twenty three pairs of eyes turned to stare at her. Lord Dragmire was sat at the far end of the large rectangular table, and there was an empty seat at the near end topped with a painted golden crown. Every other seat was filled with nobly dressed people, all of whom had clearly been vying for the attention of the prince's advisor. "His Royal Highness Prince Link will be joining the meeting now," she said, and she turned back to the door and bowed, making quick eye contact with Link and smiling.

Link was shaking like anything when he made his way to his seat, and he seemed to be trying not to look around the room at all.

"Breathe," Zelda said as quietly as she could, and then she focused on spellcasting. A simple illusion like this wasn't terribly hard, and when it was finished she tapped Link's chair to get his attention. "It is done."

He nodded. She took her place at the right of his chair, where the Sheikah always stood.

The chatter did not resume, presumably because everyone was staring at Link, so Lord Dragmire cleared his throat and began the meeting.

Zelda knew that Link was terrified, but she also knew that he would have to sit through this whole meeting if he wanted to be taken seriously.

The first half an hour of the meeting was mind-numbingly dull. Something about a party and problems in a foreign land.

They were the other side of the Sheikah desert, past even Hyrule, so she knew nothing of the place.

Lord Dragmire was exceptionally good at speaking convincingly. He was scary enough and well-spoken enough to pull the others round to his way of thinking, but even the other council members looked a little uncomfortable when the subject of the new debt law was brought up. He seemed to be the one who wanted children to be accountable for their parents' debts. This seemed to be in response to hordes of drunks or gamblers dying after taking huge state loans.

"Is there anyone among is who stands in objection to this law?" The advisor seemed utterly certain of his victory, and indeed, the council members all looked around at each other, as if hoping for but not really expecting someone to stand up. Link cleared his throat, though, standing shakily. It didn't make a lot of difference to his height.

Link started to read his order against the law. He was specifically countering what Lord Dragmire wanted, and Zelda could see in his face that he knew that.

When he was finished, the prince sat down and gave the council a shaky smile, looking around at all of them in turn. Most looked pleased if rather surprised, but Lord Dragmire looked furious.

He started to object to what Link had said, and then Link reminded him that he'd been given an order. The advisor simply sat down, unwilling to argue with a direct order, but Zelda could see that he was far from finished with Link.  
She would remain close to him. She hoped that Lord Dragmire would never corner him somewhere she couldn't reach.

The meeting ended soon after that, and Link left the room as fast as he possibly could, pressing his head against the cool stone wall outside the council chamber and breathing hard. "I did it. I did it. I did it."

"Yes." Zelda smiled at him. He had more courage than she had thought. He'd changed something that would improve the lives of his citizens.

"Ganon is scary even when he's three feet tall, but I think it helped." Link managed a small laugh. "Thank you."

"It's fine." She gently guided Link back to his room. He'd be more relaxed there.

"Leave me for a while, I would like to read." He smiled at her. "I will knock if I need you."

She would write her report and then she thought she could also do some reading. Halfway through the first chapter of the book, something slammed into Link's door. Zelda was on her feet in a second, listening carefully to make out what was going on.

"What in the name of the GODDESSES do you think you're doing, child?" That was Lord Dragmire, and he was angry.

"You always say that you want me to come to meetings." Link's voice was surprisingly clear, although that was possibly because he had simply accepted the trouble he was in. "So I did. And I spoke up because you asked for anyone who disagreed with you to say so."

"You have to turn up to meetings because you're expected to! You're not allowed to disagree with me. You're pathetic."

"I'm not pathetic. I'm just doing my duty and protecting my kingdom. I'm the prince. You're supposed to advise me, not control me."

"Where is this attitude coming from? This is not what I have taught you your whole miserable life."

"I am not pathetic. I am not miserable. I am the prince of Hyrule, and this is my kingdom, not yours. You can't--" There was a loud slapping sound and something slammed against the door again. Zelda longed to burst in, but she had no idea if she would only aggravate the situation.

But if that was Link getting hurt...he was very quiet in there. She couldn't let him be hurt.

"You will refrain from attending any further council meetings. You will not tell Impa or that other Sheikah girl about this. You will, in fact, advise the new girl to leave this place and go back home, and you will NEVER question my authority again. Do you understand that, you pathetic child?"

Zelda didn't hear a response, but now she was glad she hadn't gone in.

She heard the sound of someone being kicked, then a faint moan of pain and the door on the other side of the room opening and then slamming shut. Link was alone, now.

She pulled the door open immediately and felt horrible. Link was laid on the floor.

"No..." Link sat up, then doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach. "How- how much did you hear?" The words were forced out through gritted teeth.

"I'm so sorry, Link." She had failed. Here was the prince in pain on the floor.

"Please don't leave me..." Tears leaked from his eyes, and he cried out in pain and tried to wipe them away as they trickled into a cut on his cheekbone.

"Shh, it's okay." She sat down on the floor next to him. She'd failed. This was horrible. She needed to fix this. "Let me heal you." She summoned magic to her fingertips, directing it to wherever Link seemed to be hurt. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I'm sorry that I'm so weak," he said, continuing to cry.

"You are not weak. You are incredibly brave." Zelda fetched a blanket from Link's bed, offering it to him. "I heard you, and you stood up to that pig remarkably well."

Link wrapped the blanket around himself and started sobbing harder.

"What do you want, Link? Tell me what I can do to help you." Zelda sat next to him, glancing around the room for something to do.

He just shook his head and buried himself further in the blanket.

Cheering him up was clearly impossible for now. Zelda sat and let him cry, waiting patiently next to him. She had failed him for now, but she WOULD make it up to him. She would protect him. Link was only a child, and he deserved to be safe and happy. The poor boy needed looking after.  
If anything, that was her job. To make sure he was safe and happy.

When Link eventually stopped crying, it was almost an hour later. His expression was fierce now and there was new courage in his eyes, despite the tear stains and redness.

"I hate him." His voice was shaky but it was full of passion. "I want to do something about it."

"You will," Zelda said firmly. "I will help. So will Impa. That man does not deserve to be here in Hyrule."

Link nodded. "Did you know that I'm named after the great Hero?"

"I noticed, yes." Even the Sheikah knew of the Legend of the Hero.

"You're named after the goddess, it's very strange." He laughed very slightly. "But you are wise, and I don't have any courage."

"Nonsense, you are incredibly courageous. You stood up to Lord Dragmire." Zelda smiled. "How much more courageous can you get than that?"

"Actually winning." He sighed. "I can never attend another meeting."

"Yes you can." Zelda stood up, beckoning for Link to do the same. "You are technically in charge of the meetings, he can't ban you from attending. And I will stay with you afterwards, to ensure that he does not hurt you."

He shook his head. "He said no. I can't, you don't understand."

"Explain to me, then." Zelda folded her arms. "Because I do not see a single reason why you, the prince of this entire land, should obey a mere advisor."

"You don't understand," he said, wrapping the blanket closer around himself.

"I asked you to explain it to me. I'm not giving up." Zelda looked Link right in the eye, and he seemed to relent.

"I'm scared," he snapped. "I don't like the bright lights in the room and I don't like the noises."

That was a bit of a problem. Zelda thought for a long moment, debating how to solve it. "Illusion magic," she said simply. "The same magic that shrinks Lord Dragmire can be used to dim the lights."

Link almost smiled. He looked a little more optimistic, anyway.

"See, whatever you need, it can be done. Any problems can be overcome. You can take your kingdom back from him, you can do whatever is necessary."

"I wanted to leave the castle..." He said. "I still want to."

"You can do anything that you want to do, I promise." Zelda spoke gently but firmly; this was important and she didn't want to scare the prince.

"I've never left the grounds," he said, and Zelda gaped. Never?

"Hyrule is beautiful," she said. "You have missed out on a lot by not seeing it. Has Impa never taken you anywhere? Your parents, before they died?"

He shook his head. "When I was little, Ganon said that I never went anywhere because I'm strange."

"You should be free to go anywhere that you want to. You're old enough to at least go into town, surely."

He shook his head. "I'm too strange, Ganon says he doesn't want the people knowing how odd I am."

"I'm going to take you outside tomorrow." Link tried to argue, but she shook her head. "I'm going to do it. Ganondorf doesn't control you."

"He DOES," Link said. "And for good reasons, as well. I HATE him but he's right."

"There is no good reason for him to have control over you," Zelda tried to say, but she could see already that trying to convince him was a lost cause for now.

Link just sighed. "Can you get my book for me?"

"Do you want to be left in peace to read?" Zelda handed him the book in question, hovering by the door. If he didn't want her around, she would try and find something to eat.  
He shook his head immediately. He had told her not to leave him, which she supposed was reasonable.

"May I at least get my own book?" Link considered it for a moment, then nodded. She fetched it and sat down on Link's desk again, watching him curiously.

He read quickly, that much she could tell. He seemed happy to read all the time, at least he had seemed to want to for the whole time she had been in the castle.

Link was a strange child, that much was clear. But Zelda felt bound to him not just by duty, but by something else that was just beyond her grasp. She opened her book and began to read, leaving the mysteries of the world to sort themselves out another time.


	5. Market Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link, Zelda and Impa visit the markets together.

Zelda found Impa after breakfast the next day training once again in the field, this time holding two curved blades and swinging them at imaginary enemies. Breakfast had been a hurried affair, Link keen to finish before Lord Dragmire arrived.

Link was now hanging around behind her. He'd been out in the gardens many times, he told her, but he was scared that Lord Dragmire may suspect him.

Impa stopped her sword swinging and jogged up to the pair, glancing curiously at Link. "Zelda. Hello. Have you come to see me for a particular reason?"

"I am planning to take Link into the city today, but I know little of its layout." She said.

"I shall join you." Impa sheathed her swords, starting to walk back to the castle. "We may want to avoid Lord Dragmire and his robots, there would not be good consequences if they were to find Link in town."

"If anyone were to ask us, we could say I am teaching Link ways to defend himself when in crowds?" Zelda suggested.

"It would be wise to also find Link a cloak to wear to hide his face, should anyone who we don't want to see him pass us by. Wait here." She ran on ahead, coming back a few minutes later with a green travelling cloak.  
Link slipped it on and his face emerged a few moments later. He looked like an excited child.

"Keep your hood up when we pass the robots at the gate," Impa advised. "They might report back to Lord Dragmire, I'm not sure how those ones work."

Link nodded and pulled the hood up with an excited grin to Zelda. He looked so happy.

The trio walked out of the castle as fast as they dared, Link in between and slightly behind the two Sheikah to hide him from the sight of any casual observer. Zelda noticed that Link really couldn't hold in his excitement at all. He was practically skipping and she saw his hands moving around a lot.

She had to tell him to be still as they passed several sets of guards near the castle entrance, but they managed to pass without incident and then they were outside the castle walls, at last. He was very sweet, she thought, as she watched his wide eyes at everything around him. He was so incredibly happy.

"Don't wander off," she cautioned him. "Both of us need to stay close to Impa, she's the only one who knows her way around here."

He nodded, but she doubted he was listening properly. He was too absorbed in everything around him.

Impa led them into the town's market, and Zelda saw from the signs that this place was known as Castle Town. Not a terribly creative name, but it was a beautiful place. It was now a city, in fact, because it was so vast. She'd never seen so many buildings in her life, and they were all tall and mostly made of stone.

Link seemed a little less thrilled with the busy markets and people bumping into him, but then he found a stall selling books and nothing else in the world seemed to matter to him.

He was enthusiastic about everything, and that made Zelda happy to see. He'd been so upset yesterday and now he seemed so much better.

Impa came to stand next to her, watching Link with amusement. "I have money if he tries to buy anything, although at the rate he's going, it won't be nearly enough."

"I'm sure he'll stop if we tell him to." She laughed. She doubted she was going to be paid a single rupee here.

"Perhaps, but do you really want to make him stop?" Zelda looked at him for a moment more, happily flipping through a book, and she shook her head. He put the book down again. She didn't really think he was considering buying anything.

"I should see what he thinks of Castle Town food," Impa mused. "Even if he only eats the bread, it'll be nice and fresh. And I am sure you will love the food here."

Zelda nodded, and they managed to pull Link away from the stall with the bribe of a book he'd kept looking at again and again.

Impa took them to a stall which was emitting the enticing scent of freshly baked goods, and Zelda felt like a child again, helping Ishna choose what food to get from the Gerudo traders. She'd always loved one special bread roll, a kind that she enjoyed greatly but they couldn't make in the village. She ended up picking a type of flatbread with something hot and melty baked into it, which she greatly enjoyed. Link was daring enough to try bread flavoured with something called 'tomatoes', which were apparently imported specially from the hot fields of Din. This land was so strange, Zelda thought, but she enjoyed it.

She just wished it wasn't governed so unfairly. It didn't have a government, just that tiny council she had seen before.

A little while after they had eaten, a patrol of several robots buzzed into the market square. Everyone went quiet at their arrival, and Zelda quickly told Link to pull his hood up.

It was strange to see the fear in action. The people clearly knew not to say a word around the robots. They went around to every stall, and each shopkeeper scrambled to pull out some of their money and hand it over.

"Tax collectors," said Link in a small voice. "Ganon's idea. If the stallholders can't pay, it...it's bad."

"I have no idea what taxes are," Zelda said softly, "but they sound bad."

"They are." Link huddled a little closer to her, tugging the hood down tighter over his face. "This happens every week, I think."

"What does it pay for?" She asked. She already had a good idea that it was something to do with robots.

"Ganon keeps some of the money, and the rest goes towards the robots. Building more, improving them, things like that."

"New idea." She smiled at him. "You need to push funding for infrastructure. Healthcare. Helping the people of the outer states."

"I had been thinking about it. For the meeting next week, I will write myself another speech." Zelda nodded, watching as the robots collected their last few taxes and lined back up in the middle of the square.

Then they left, which was a relief. You could see each member of the population in the square breathe out.  
Link pushed his hood back, starting to smile again. "I think it should be safe now. Impa, are we going anywhere else today?"

She shook her head. "I shouldn't think so. And we wouldn't want anyone realising your absence."

Link hugged his new book close to his chest. "You are right. Thank you. And thank you, Zelda, for suggesting this."

"It's okay, Link. You suggested it, actually." She felt like Link needed all the confidence and happiness he could get, and a simple outing like this should not make him so happy.

"I want to thank you anyway, for doing this and being so helpful." Link set off back towards the castle, still admiring the scenery around him.

"Remember to keep your hood up," Zelda reminded him. She hoped they wouldn't be caught.

They made it back inside the castle undetected, but it was clear once they were inside that Link's absence had been noticed. "We will both stay with you," Impa said gently. "Lord Dragmire will not hurt you in the presence of witnesses."

No one had seen Link all day and he wasn't in his room. That was what everyone was saying, and it was true.  
His return had been noted by one servant, despite Zelda's efforts to keep Link hidden, and there was a tense twenty minutes spent waiting in Link's room before the inevitable heavy footsteps of Lord Dragmire could be heard outside. News travelled fast in the castle, it seemed.

"Link." Lord Dragmire strode into the room without knocking. Zelda had been sitting on the floor but had moved to stand at Link's side when she heard the footsteps.

"Yes?" Link glanced to Zelda next to him and then to Impa tinkering with his robot, and he took a deep breath. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Where have you been today?" He asked, visibly trying to look quite intimidating despite being in the room with two people who could easily snap his neck.

"It- it doesn't matter." Link took a shaky breath, and Zelda smiled at him for courage. She hoped that this wouldn't end in a fight.

"But it does matter, Link." Lord Dragmire sounded like he was a father scolding a child for doing something silly.

He was the worst father in the world, though, at least to Link. An advisor to an orphaned prince should be kind and supportive, not selfish and abusive. "I'm v-very sorry Ganondorf." He said quietly. "I won't disappear again."

"Good." The advisor turned to Zelda suddenly, ice in his eyes. "You, girl, better not have put him up to this. It is not safe for Link in the outside world."

"No, Lord Dragmire." It was her, of course, but only Sheikah could detect lies. "I am here to protect Link, not cause him harm."

"Good. It would be a tragedy if any harm were to come to him. Or to yourself." Lord Dragmire looked her in the eyes, his expression clearly telling her that she would be on the receiving end of his anger if she did anything with Link that he did not approve of.

She nodded in response. There was no danger in the city, at least not with Impa.

Lord Dragmire turned on his heel and left the room, cape billowing behind him. Zelda longed to dart over and tug the cloak hard enough that he fell over, but she felt that would be unwise. She voiced her thoughts to Link once he was gone.

"I used to pull on that cape," Link said, sighing. "Ganon would laugh in public and then..."

"Then what?" Zelda asked, not sure if she really wanted to know what he had done to the poor small Prince Link. Link shook his head. "Alright. Are you okay?" Zelda looked him over quickly, and he seemed remarkably unshaken.

He nodded, and then he started shaking. Quite a lot, too.  
So much for unshaken. Zelda looked to Impa for advice, and the older Sheikah came over and directed Link to sit down on his bed. "Shock," she explained quietly. "It shouldn't last long."

Zelda really hoped it wouldn't. She needed Link to be braver than this if he was ever going to stand up to Lord Dragmire. He was trying, certainly, but it wasn't enough yet.

She understood that he was rather young and badly treated. She understood that he couldn't do what he was expected to, but the problem was that he had to. "Link, are you listening?" He didn't reply, but scared blue eyes flicked up to meet hers for a moment. Yes, then. "Your kingdom needs you to brave, do you understand that? It needs you to have courage."

Link pointedly moved his head to look away from her. He didn't like that, then. But it was the truth.

Impa stood up and moved to be closer to Zelda, so she could talk without being heard. "This has happened before. Offer to read a book to him, find him something to eat. Let him calm himself before you make another speech at him."

"Should I try reading one of the books you're reading at the moment to you?" She suggested.

Link shook his head violently, frowning as if she had suggested something far worse than simply reading a book. "Read something new to me," he said, his voice still thin and scared.

"I don't know what you haven't read," she admitted.

"The pile on the left are books he hasn't read," Impa said.

"Thank you." Zelda went over and picked the top book off the pile, bringing it back over to Link. "Will this one do?"

Link's smile, though small, showed that the book was fine. Zelda opened it and was immediately regretting her choice of book. Political science.

Rolling her eyes ever so slightly, she began reading. It was dry and dull as a rock, but Link seemed to enjoy the information.

She didn't understand a word of it, really, but it was sort of nice to just read it. She felt quite good, helping Link.   
Impa went off back to the edge of the room to tinker with Link's robot some more, as she always seemed to be doing, and Zelda read until Link's shaking had calmed itself entirely.

"Can I have some food?" Link asked. His voice was incredibly quiet.

"We'll have to go down to the dining hall," Zelda said. Link just nodded, standing up a little shakily. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked. It was probably about time for an evening meal, but hopefully Ganondorf wouldn't be there.

"I will be fine." His voice was small but clear, and there was a hint of determination in there that made Zelda smile.

"That's more like it," she said. Courage. It was nice to see from Link. 

The young prince gave her a wavering smile, and Zelda nodded, pleased, and the two of them made their way down to the dining hall.

She wondered if Link had any friends at all, or even people he spoke to regularly. She imagined he'd have to attend palace events.

There was no one in the hall yet, although there was food laid out on the table, including a bowl of fairly simple stew and some bread for Link. Zelda wondered why he refused to eat anything else, when there was so much good food in Hyrule.

If he'd agreed to eat, though, she wasn't going to complain. Eating was good for him, and small children always started with simple foods.

Link wasn't all that small, though, at least not in his physical age. He sat down to eat with perfect posture and table manners as if he were an adult, and all the books he had read had given him wisdom well beyond his years.

She cast her mind to the members of her tribe who were his age, and she was almost impressed. They always sat slouched and picked at their teeth during meal times.

The Sheikah were a very disciplined people, but younger boys especially often had trouble grasping that until they were a little older. Zelda had memories of Ishna scolding her at age eight for getting into fights with other children, coming home crying and covered head to toe in sand.

She couldn't imagine Link getting into fights. She could imagine him sitting in the sand letting other children bury him as he cried.

Perhaps it was a good thing he hadn't been born Sheikah- although, to be fair, neither had she. Link would no doubt have adjusted if he had been through what she had, and perhaps he would just have to adjust now, and become braver.

How long had he suffered? Was it the full twelve years of his life? How long ago had he decided that books and robots were better than real people? Zelda could only guess at the answers to these questions. They were as hidden as the dark side of the moon to her, and perhaps even Link would be unable to answer truly.

She tried not to watch him as he ate, watching the people who entered instead. Ganondorf never reared his rather ugly and large nose, thankfully. 

Few people paid attention to her, which Zelda supposed must be normal here. She was a mere servant, below the likes of the nobility dining here.

She presumed it was members of the court who took their meals here. They all wanted to talk to Link, it seemed, but he was unwilling or unable to answer most questions.

He kept calling Zelda forward to refill his drink or get him another piece of bread, although she had a feeling it was mostly an excuse for him to have a moment or two shielded from the nobles at the table so he could eat in peace.

She didn't mind doing all these servant things for him though, because each piece of bread she fetched for him was eaten, and each glass of water drunk.

When he had eventually had enough, he motioned simply to her and she bowed and walked behind him out of the hall, remaining that way until they were out of sight before moving to walk next to Link instead. "Do you feel better now, your highness?"

"Better," he said. His voice was still quiet, but she didn't really blame him all that much. He'd had a bad evening.

"I have seen courage in you this evening," Zelda said gently. "I have seen fear also, but I know that you can be brave. The seeds of a fine and strong prince are within you; it is up to you now to grow those seeds."

"Okay," Link said, picking up his pace slightly. "I'm not interested in becoming great."

"No one said you had to become great. Great is not a thing that you become by trying." Zelda quickened her steps also, easily keeping pace with him. "Simply become capable of ruling this kingdom, and greatness may just find you on it's own."

"I don't actually want to rule," he said. "I'm not good with people. I don't really care."

"You agreed with me before, Link, that Lord Dragmire is not a suitable ruler for this kingdom. You would be better than him, yes?"

"Yes, but I don't want to rule." Now she could see the twelve years of his life. They showed in this rather than in manners.

"You do not have to rule tomorrow, Link." She pushed open his bedroom door, letting him in first before following. "But it would be wise of you to consider that in the future you may have to accept your birthright."

"I want my sister to rule," he said. "But she's been dead for almost my whole life. She was meant to be the queen and I was born to be unimportant."

"If your sister could hear you, do you think she would be proud to hear her brother talking like that? I think she would want you to face your future, Link. She would want you to be brave and take her place and rule with as much fairness and courage as she would have done herself."

"You have her name," he said. He turned around to look at her, standing in front of the desk with the pile of books that were taller than him. "Leave me alone, I don't need you to read to me anymore."

"Very well. I bid you goodnight, your highness." Zelda bowed her head and crossed the room to the enchanted door leading to her chambers, stepping through and shutting it a little harder than necessary behind her. The childish side of Link's personality did have a tendency to surface at the worst times.

She just wanted him to understand what he needed to do. He needed to be better than a small child who cried when things didn't go his way. He needed to grow up in the places he hadn't seemed to have grown for maybe five years.

Another day, though. Today was rapidly dwindling; Ishna would have told her to sleep, and to sleep long and well to prepare herself for the task of aiding Link tomorrow.

She wrote a report of what had occurred that day and then went to sleep. She had very little idea of how to help Link on his way to his future from now.

Oh well, she would think of something. Hopefully.


End file.
